[easton]

Part of it is probably the cross compatibility requirements. SCORM and LTIs and all that stuff mean that content has to be able to render the same way for the textbook publishers and everyone else to sell content to schools running on any LMS.

Canvas may seem a little old school but I really like it. It’s not that hard to extend, API is good (they even expose graphql to students) and it’s fast. It feels like it was made by humans, as opposed to every other LMS that feels like it was made by a bunch of people in suits for school administrators. (Much like GitHub in that respect.)

[cycomanic]

I agree with you canvas is actually very good at what it is supposed to do. I had to work with blackboard previously and I still have nightmares. Also regarding innovation in this space. I think we've actually seen quite a lot of movement in this space. Over the last 5-10 years many university moved from proprietary solutions like blackboard or custom solutions on top of some cms to open source solutions with open interfaces. There is a whole community of plugins and extensions and consultants writing oss extensions.